Dough-treating mechanism.



.I No. 761,842.

PATBNTED JUNE 7, 1904.

'0. LAUKHUPF. noUGH TREATING MBGHANISM.

APPLICATIONV FILED SEPT. 8, 19,03.

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No. l261,842.

V PATENTED JUNE 7, 1904-. '0. LAUKHUPP. DOUGH TRBATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 8, 1903.

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i WITNESSS- i www l [Nl/ENTOR forming a continuous sheet and toautomatic- UNITED STATES Patented J' une 7, 1.904.

PATENT OFFICE.

o CHARLES LAUKHUFF, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

DOUGH-TREATING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION formingrpart of Let-ters Patent No. 761,842, dated June 7,1904. i Application filed September 1903. Serial No- 1'7'2,283. (Nomodel.)

T0 a/ZZ whmtzltnta-y/ concern: 'y I Be it known that I, CHARLnsLAUKi'iUFF, a

Acitizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county ofHamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new andusefulImprovements in V'Dougli-'lreating Mechanism; and Ido hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact -description of theinvention,such as ,will enable others skilled in the 'art to which itappertains tomake and use the My invention relates to improved mechan-v ism forforming pretzels and similar articles. AOne of its objects is toprovidemechanism.

adapted vto successfully operate on what is known as soft dough. l

Anotherobject is to provide improved mech-- anism for `freeing thearticles from scrap dough.

Another Objectis to provide mechanism for ally cut, separate, and feedthe articles cut therefrom upon drying-boards. y'

It further consists in certain details of form, combination, andarrangement, all of which will be more fully set forth inthe descriptionof the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure'l is a centrallongitudinal section through my improved mechanism. `Figf2 is a top planview of the same.l Fig. 3 is a plan view of theV frame carryingthe dies.Fig. 4

` is a bottom plan view of one of the dies. Fig.

5 is a section through Lthe same on line Q) @of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is adetailv side elevation of the die frame and apron feeding mechanism.Figs. 7, 8, 9,V and l0 are sectional details through the die-frame,showing the successive movement of the parts.

While hard or stiff dough,'such as is employed for making crackers, hasbeen heretofore stampedor cut into shape by means of ldies operatedmechanically, such mechanism have failed tooperate successfully uponsoft doughs which are to be subsequently raised, suoli as are employedin making pretzels and similar articles, and therefore such articleshavebeen heretofore produced by hand. With mechanism of the characterhere illustrated I preferably by means of a chain belt c.

.roll C" is adjustable to or fromroll C in order to regulate thethickness ofthe sheet of dough Ifor the passage of said bolts.

l amenabled to continuously and successfully operate upon such softdoughs.

A represents the frame of the machine, supported upon legs a.

B represents the driving-shaft, having tight and loose pulleys b.

C C represent feed-rolls'geared together and receiving motion from thedriving-sliaft, rIhe d, which after passing rolls C C falls uponanendless belt or apron D, preferably of canvas, passing over the rollsd CZ, the roll d being adjustable in order to regulate the tension ofthe apron. I

-D represents a platen over which the apron passes. i

E represents a frame mounted upon ways -E on the side bars of frameA andadapted to slide horizontally along said ways.v A

F represents the d ie-frame, which is mounted to-slide vertically inways in the-frame E. F representsthe dies, which are secured side byside in a dovetailed groove in the lower part ofthe die-frame.

f represents rocker-arms, secured upon a shaft -f'. These arms, one ateach side of the machine, are pivoted by bolts f2 to the dieframes,slots f3 being formed in the frame E The opposite ends of therocker-arms are connected by links Cr to crank-wheels Gr on shaft Cr?,whichy shaft is driven by meansl of gears g g from the driving-shaft, sothat at each revolution the frame E to reciprocate horizontally and thedie-frame to reciprocate' vertically therein. Spring-pawls H` carried byframe E, engage ratcliet-wheels H on the shaft of roll CZ to feed theapron D forward one step at each forward movement ofthe frame E.

' /trepresents shelves on the frame Ato support the ends of the Apavvlswhen not in engagement with the ratchet-wheels.

' I I represent shafts connected by chainbelts c' vl, upon -which areplaced dryingboards I2. Motion is imparted to shaft I by of thecrank-wheels the rocker-arms cause means of a chain belt J from theshaft of roll C to slowly feed the boards forward, empty boards beingplaced upon the chain belts and the full boards being removed andstacked together to dry and permit the dough to rise.

K K represent shafts or rolls supporting an apron Z?, upon which thedies deposit the ydie is provided with edges L sufliciently sharp to cutthrough the dough.

L `represents the recess to be occupied by the article to be formed, andL2 the spaces to be occupied by the parts to be eut out of the articleto be formed.

Zrepresents spring-actuated rods or plungers, which serve to push thefinished article out of the dies, and Z rods or plungers which serve topush out the pieces to be cut from the articles.

M represents a cross-bar, preferably sliding in ways on the die-frameand to which all the plungers Z are attached, the said plungers passingup through holes in the cross-bar N, which also preferably slides inways in the die-frame and contacts with the upper ends of the plungersZ. The plungers Z normally rest, by means of shoulders Z2, upon theupper face of the dies and with their lower ends projecting below theface of the dies. The plungers Z are normally held up within the dies bymeans of the springs m, being provided with shoulders m to limit theirupward movement.

In operation the dies descend substantially vertically upon the sheet ofdough, the dough and apron being supported by the platen D. The plungersZ' first strike into the dough and to a certain extent become attachedthereto. As the dies descend farther the lower ends of plungers Z recedeinto the recesses L2, being pressed upward by the dough and apron, andthe dies descend, so as to cut through the sheet of dough, therebyfilling the recesses L L2 with dough. As the dies commence to rise theplungers Z detach the dough from the recesses L2 and pin or hold it tothe apron until the pieces of dough ZS are completely detached from thedies. As the dies continueto rise the plungers Z finally seat atshoulders Z2 on thel dies and are lifted with the dies, carrying thepieces Z3 with them, as indicated in Fig. 8. The dies now, due to thecombined movement of frames E F, describe the arc of a circle, asindicated by dotted lines, Fig. l, so as to bring the dies above theforward end ol apron During this movement the ends of plungers Z come incontact with and pass across a brush O, which detaches the pieces Z:sand allows them to drop down over the end of the apron D, so as to fallinto a box l). placed beneath the machine. '.lhe portion of the sheet ofdough from which the articles have been cut may also be led into the boxl or, if desired, into a separate box P, from which it is gathered andused again. As the dies reach the limit of their movement and attain aposition above the apron Z' the cross-bar N is brought into contact withthe projectingl lingers R, which depress the cross-bar relative to thedies, which forces down the plungers Z, thereby detaching the articlesfrom the recesses L in the dies, so that they drop upon the apron andare thence carried to the drying-boards.

A brush Sis preferably 'iournaled to revolve and brush the upper face ofthe sheet of dough, being driven by belt S, so that by placing flourupon the sheet it is dusted evenly over the top of the sheet and servesto form a dry surface or skin which tends to prevent the dough sticking`in the dies. The pawl ll and ratchet-wheel II serve to feed the apron l)forward in a step-by-step movement at a period when the dies are liftedfrom the apron.

The mechanism herein illustrated and described is capable ofconsiderable modification without departing from the principle of myinvention.

Having described my invention, what l claim ism l. In a dough-treatingmechanism, a pair ol' feed-rolls, an apron having` a step-by-siepmovement, an apron to receive the finished articles, and one or moredies traveling` from one to the other of said aprons, and adapted to cutthe articles from the sheet ol dough on one apron and deposit thearticles upon the other apron.

2. In adough-treating mechanism, a pair ol' feed-rolls, an apron having`a stepby-step movement, an apron to receive the liuished articles, aconveyer to feed the drying-boards, and one or more dies traveling fromone lo the other of said aprons. and adapted to cut the articles fromthe sheet of dough on one apron and deposit the articles upon the otherapron.

3. In adough-treating mechanism, an apron having a step-by-stepmovement, a receiver for the finished articles, a horizontally-travelingframe, a vertically-traveling die-frame mounted on and carried by saidhorizontallytraveling frame, and means for reciprocating said frames.

4. In adough-treatingmechanism, an apron having` a step-by-stepmovement, an apron to lOO llO

receive the finished articles, a horizontallytraveling frame, avertically-moving die-'frame mounted on and carried by saidhorizontallytraveling frame, and means for reciprocating said frames.

5. In a dough-treating mechanism, a sheetfeeding apron, a receiver forthe iinished articles, a horiZontally-traveling frame, avertically-traveling die-frame, and means connected with saidhorizontally-travelingframe for feeding the sheet-feeding apron in astepby-step movement.

6. In a dough-treating mechanism, a sheetfeeding apron, a receiver iorthe iinished artifcles, one or more dies adapted to cut out'and retainthe articles to bev formed, mechanism for moving said dies from theapron to the receiver, and means for disengaging said articles from thedies and depositing the same upon the receiver.

7. In a dough-treating mechanism, a pair of feed-rolls to continuouslyform a sheet of dough, an apron having a step-by-step movement, areceiver for the l[inished articles, oneI or more traveling dies to cutthe articles from the sheet of dough at one point of the die movement,and positively-operated mechanism to detach the articles from the diesand deposit them on the receiver at another'point of the die movement.

8. In a dough-treatingmechanism, a sheetfeeding apron, a receiver forthe finished articles, a die having a recess to receive the article, anda recess to receive the part to be trimmed therefrom, mechanism adaptedto irst detach the dough from one of said recesses, and to afterwarddetach the dough from the other recess, and means for actuating saidmechanism at proper intervals.

9. In a dough-treating mechanism, a reciprocating die-frame, one or moredies adapted to cut/the articles from a sheet oi' dough at one end ofthedie movement, and to carry the article so cut outtoareceiver, andtrip-fingers to-contact with the dies and detach and deposit thearticles upon the receiver. Y

l0. In a dough-treating mechanism, a reciprocating die-frame, one ormore dies adapted to cut the articles from a sheet of dough at one endof the die movement, and to cut sections from the body of said articles,mechanism Jfor rst detaching the sections so cut from the articles, andfinally detaching the articles from the dies.

11. In a dough-treating mechanism, a reciprocating die-frame, one ormore dies adapted to cut the articles from a sheet of dough at one endof the die movement, and' to cut sections from the articles, mechanismfor detaching the sections so cut from the articles at one point oi' thedie movement, and for detaching the articles at a different point of thedie movement.

12. In a dough-treating mechanism, a reciprocating die-frame, one ormore dies adapted to cut the articles from a sheet of dough at oneend'of the die movement, and to cut sections from the body of saidarticles;automaticallyoperated plungers adapted to iirst detach thesections so cut from the articles, and automatically-operated plungersto finally detach the articlesfrom the dies. l

13. Ina dough-treating mechanism, a reciprocating die-frame, one or moredies adapted to cut the articles from a sheet of dough at one end oi'the die movement, and to cut sections i'rom thearticles,automatically-operated plungers for detaching the sections socut from the articles at one point of the die movement, andautomatically-operated plungers for detaching the articles at adifferent point of the die'movement.

14. In adough-treating mechanism, a reciprocating die-frame, one or moredies adapted to cut the articles from asheet of dough at one end of thedie movement, and to cut sections from the body of said articles,plungers normally'projecting through the recesses in the dies whichreceive the sections, and with their lower ends below the face of thedies, plungers normally retracted into the recesses of the dies whichreceive the articles, a brush adapted to detach the sections at onepoint of the die movement from the projecting ends of the plungers, andmeans for afterward depressing the normally retracted plungers to detachthe articles.

In testimony whereoie I have afxed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

CHARLES LAUKHUFF.

Witnesses:

C. W. MILES, CHR. LAUKHUFF.

